Tag: Light

Universe of Light (a Tanka)

A heavy sky greeted us before breakfast, the clouds shifting and uncertain as we walked beneath the trees. Yet even in that muted light, something brighter seemed to stir behind the grey — a quiet reminder that beyond the darkness, a softer universe is always waiting to break through.





Universe of Light (a Tanka)


Above nature’s trees
Behind life’s wavering clouds
Beyond the darkness
There’s a universe of light
Waiting to caress your soul





Where the glow waits behind every wavering cloud.
Even here, the universe of light begins to open.



Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

This Morning, or This Anxious Man

This poem grew from two separate comments I left on Nancy’s site, written almost four weeks apart. Different days, different moods — yet when I revisited them, they seemed to lean toward one another and form a cohesive whole.
Stanzas 1 and 2 came from La Casa Azzurra – The Elephant’s Trunk
and stanzas 3, 4, and 5 from What’s Left Behind – The Elephant’s Trunk


Fresh shoes for familiar paths — proof enough that this man plans on walking a little further yet.

Over at Weekly Prompts,  the weekend challenge is the word “Anxiety”. To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here


This Morning, or This Anxious Man


I woke up this morning,
which is always a good thing —
with blue surrounding my head,
quietly filtering through the blinds
from dawn’s levitating, bright blue sky.

I do not need to ask why
the tranquil colour blue
serendipitously keeps me flying high.

I am who I am.
I’m an old man,
and I do the best I can.

My dreamworld plan
is out of my hands.

I remember how it all began,
and here I am —
between Cannes and scans,
still walking this land.




For the fragments that find each other, the blue mornings, the old roads, and the man who keeps trusting the day ahead.





Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

Brighter Than White (a Tanka)

Above the treeline, the day began with wings drifting toward the light.





Brighter Than White (a Tanka)

Quickly, follow me
Through the silhouetted clouds
I hear the wise crow
Has found a hole in the sky
Where the light’s brighter than white






The sky keeps its openings, and somewhere beyond the clouds, the light still waits, brighter than white.




Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

A Solar Empyrean Halo






A Solar Empyrean Halo



Midmorning’s Rising Sun
Gazing above the usual field of view,
high into the cloudy stratosphere,
I catch sight of a
jetstream’s snowdrops
falling from beyond the rising sun’s
solar empyrean halo.

Twilight’s Setting Sun
Gazing toward the hessian horizon,
below the low misty atmosphere,
I catch sight of an
evanescent cashmere twilight
which had serendipitously caught the setting sun’s
solar empyrean halo.






Let the final light’s echo carry you from morning’s rise to twilight’s hush, and here’s the song that keeps the halo glowing a little longer.




Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

Above and Beyond the Horizon


Where the cloud‑horizon meets the fading sun, twilight balances its colours on the edge of evening


Above and Beyond the Horizon


Here, beneath the twilight zone’s archway,
I see a phenomenal golden causeway.

There, above the horizon’s sentinal treeline
and below the cloudbank’s grigio plateau –
like another parallel pseudo-horizon –

mysteriously, the yellow band of light
momentarily emerges,
despite the fading sun folding into night.








Ivor Steven  ©  February 2026

In a World of Doubt


“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.” ~ Peter Ustinov



In a World of Doubt


To the left of where I sit,
I see a bright red strip
flash across the night sky.
In disbelief, I rub my weary eyes.

I do not panic, or feel fear,
as my vision slowly becomes clear.
I perceive my angel’s lake of tears
has entered my atmosphere.

Awakened, I valiantly swim out,
and try to save my world of doubt.







Ivor Steven (c) October 2025

Wind and Light


“May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face, and the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars.” ~ George Jung




Wind and Light


I cannot perceive the speed of light,
but I can feel its energy –
gently touch my skin.

I cannot see today’s cold gusts,
but I can hear nature’s wind —
boldly sting my eyes.

Between light and wind,
I know who is the fastest.
But I wonder: who is the strongest?






.


Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)



Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)



Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books


OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

Quintessence


Definitions:

quintessence:
noun:   the most typical example or representative of a type
noun:   the purest and most concentrated essence of something
noun:   the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies

florescent; flowering; bursting into flower
iridescent; the visual property of something having a milky brightness
pearlescent; resembling a pearl; having a pearly lustre or sheen
opalescent; colourless or white like an opal, or changing colour like an opal.
candescent; glowing or starting to glow with heat
evanescent; gradually disappears from sight or memory.
Senescent;  characteristic of old age




Quintessence

Above my florescent sunflowers
Twilight’s iridescent sky
Of a pearlescent sunset
And an opalescent moonrise   
Animated my candescent world
And the evanescent wave of light
Revived my senescent eyes







.


Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)




Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)



Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books



OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com





Ivor Steven (c) January 2025Posted

Five Short Poems

I am extremely proud and humbled by the acceptance of five of my poems by the amazing Susi Bocks, Editor-in-Chief at The Short of It! “Hot off the Press” and released for publication today!

Ivor Steven

PUBLISHED ON 

Kunj Parekh – Unsplash

New Light

Cascading sunshine
Falls into my cloudy eyes
Cold ponds feel new light

Further Down

From the Pandemic’s
Depressing downs
Into my Covid
Dressing gown

Finality

after we have consumed
the leftover wine
and desecrated the sundial’s shadow
the dark side of the moon
will finally recede from view

Co-existence

Beneath the trees and bushes
Lives an underground network
Prospering on giving and receiving

Our Time

Time waits for no one
Everyone passes in time
Time hears no commands

~~~

Ivor Steven, formerly an Industrial Chemist and then a Plumber, is now retired; he has been published in numerous anthologies and online magazines. He has two self-published books, Tullawalla and Perceptions. Ivor is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc.(Australia) and an appointed writer for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA). He was first featured in 2022 and was nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize for his piece – The Sum is One. You can read his features and reblog by clicking HERE.

Untitled

If you’d like to be featured on The Short of It in the future,
click here for the submission guidelines.









Ivor Steven (c) March 8th 2024